Rating: Summary: A professional job Review: (Sigh.) It sure would be nice if for once we could get a truly open-minded, evenhanded book on any paranormal topic. The problem is that knee-jerk reactions tend to be the rule. On the one hand there are the True Believers, those who uncritically and unthinkingly accept the existence of extraterrestrials whizzing through our skies, occasionally abducting folks when the fancy takes them. On the other hand there are those who portray themselves as sensible, level-headed skeptics. But often these debunkers are just the other side of the coin. True Unbelievers, I call them. If the True Believers have a blinkered view of things, ignoring or giving short shrift to evidence that runs contrary to their beliefs, the same can often be said for people like James Randi and the whole CSICOP crowd in general. And Kal Korff particularly. In fact Korff's book, with its smugly juvenile writing characterized by overheated prose filled to the brim with eccentric punctuation, especially extreme overuse of exclamation points, is remarkably similar in style to what you see in True Believer crackpot literature. Look, I can understand the need to approach such a sensational story as the Roswell incident with a good dose of healthy skepticism, but you really have to be kidding yourself at some level if you claim to find most of Korff's arguments at all convincing. Basically, his explanation for the stories told by approximately 100 or so first- and second-hand witnesses is that they're all liars. Now which idea is more far-fetched, the crash of a craft of unknown origin or a town that inexplicably breeds and/or attracts pathological liars? Especially where the liars' stories all basically gibe. Either one sounds like the basis of a Stephen King novel to me. "Ah-ha!!!" exclaims Korff, saliva spraying from his mouth. "Perhaps the stories DO gibe *basically*, but that's the problem!! When it comes to details there are any number of contradictions between them!!! How can you possibly explain such a thing, eh??!!!! Case closed!!! Ha!!!!" Well, Kal, I don't know where you get the idea that human memory acts as an objective recording device like a video camera. It's well known that if you gather together a group of people who have witnessed a traffic accident and interview them separately, you will get plenty of contradictions in their stories. Korff expects absolute perfect agreement between scores of people, all of whom are elderly folks describing their recollections years after the fact. I'm not saying that Korff doesn't have a few good points, but he doesn't come close to demolishing the Roswell "myth." If you're looking for a better-reasoned, better-written anti-Roswell book, you should probably check out Philip Klass's. But also read one of Kevin Randle's books. You'll see that good arguments can be made both pro and con on Roswell if you truly look at it with an open mind.
Rating: Summary: Yes, there was a cover-up ! Review: By the so called "ufologists," actually. It is really difficult to take one seriously when one doesn't take his job seriously. And that is the problem with "ufologists." Every claim that fits their scheme is valid, and they go unchecked. Hearsay becomes the truth, if it complies with their beliefs. It looks just like another sect.This book uses the very material provided by the believers to show the incongruences of their stories. It doesn't try to prove if Roswell's UFO crash happened or not. Mostly, it checks the "evidence" provided and when it gets scrutinized, little remains. In order to do this, the author verifies basic documentation (which, of course, believers didn't look for) to prove some "witnesses" can't be trusted. The author hardly expresses his opinions, he presents information hidden by UFO fanatics and the truth is obvious. A great book, but not a fun one. If you are up to fantasies, don't read this one. Go see some Hollywood movie or read a book that makes up a Roswell case. (By the way, in my opinion aliens may be visiting our planet, but it's got to be proven by serious people)
Rating: Summary: Pity for my money Review: I wish I could have spent my money on something else rather than on a book full of Goverment propaganda. Anyway I can still use it for my fireplace. Too bad for you Mr Korff you can not convince anybody rather than your friends... All the best, but be careful with you next book
Rating: Summary: Well Written piece of government funded lies. Review: I've always believed that truth is more interesting than fiction, and far more interesting than lies. Over the past 20 years numerous books, articles, movies, and television shows have convinced millions of Americans that a flying saucer crashed in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico, in the summer of 1947. I once believed it myself. Now, veteran researcher Kal Korff has painstakingly dismantled the elaborate construction of lies and misconceptions that have fed this modern myth, and presented for the first time a lucid and coherent account of what was really going on in the New Mexico desert back in the summer of 1947. And there WERE things going on out there, but they had nothing to do with flying saucers and everything to do with the Cold War and with America's need to monitor the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons program. But read the book. Good research is something that there is not enough of in the field of UFO's, and Korff has done his job. I for one believe that there is nothing at all disappointing about the truth, even if it turns out to be of the down-to-earth variety.
Rating: Summary: is the truth really out there? Review: I, like many others, had always thought there was something to the Roswell incident (though there were always troubling questions). Korff, while positing himself as a believer, has effectively demolished the entire incident. I would be interested in knowing what defenders of the incident have to say about this book, especially Kevin Randle, who takes a few hits here.
Rating: Summary: A public for lies Review: Kal knows that only 60% of the American public believes that UFOs are real and wrote his book for the other 40%. Read the book by Colonel Corso "The Day After Roswell" to understand why a clique of special interest wants the public to believe that UFOs do not exist and that Roswell never took place. Kal worked as a senior analyst on the Star Wars program at Livermore California, a center for NASA and the clique. The special interests of the clique represent tens of billions of dollars taxpayers have poured on Star Wars, a cover for preparing politicians to spend huge amount of money to protect earth from these terrible aliens. With the growing multiplication of crop circles and the inability of the clique to burry such visible evidence, the clique is forced to recognize the reality of extra-terrestrial visitors but need to first discredit Roswell, which many regard as a caused accident. Kal has been caught many times lying with facts, dates, locations, testimonials and hard evidence. He is a friend of another bona fide liar, Richard Motzer who denies the reality of the Phoenix spaceship, witness by thousands of people over Arizona on March 1997. To beef-up his lack of credibility with ufologists, he does not hesitate to boast on his website that Amazon.com has found his book the best among twenty others. First, Amazon.com does not endorse books. Second, the people praising his book are most likely friends of Kal, hoping to invent notoriety on a popular site. The man is that low. Kal is a Johnny come lately to serious UFO analysis and is only interested to stirr emotions from people who desperately hang on to the medieval concept that man is alone in the Universe. If man is not alone, aliens must be more technologically advanced than we are, and what is so special about a crash at Roswell, unless it was a cosmic crime? Kal Korff, Richard Motzer, Karl Pflock, James Oberg, Philipp Klass, and before them Donald Menzel and Carl Sagan belong to a long list of paid or subsidized UFOs debunkers, in league to brainwash the public into spending billions for useless space programs based on rocketry when the so-called scientists they support have long proved idiotic at reverse-engineering the anti-gravity technologies recovered at Roswell. Check the names of the above individuals on the Internet and see what others have to say. April Seventeen, "Intercession", sold by Amazon.com
Rating: Summary: Echoes,with delays recorded by stopwatch,accompanied.... Review: Project of decoding of 'The Stormer Effect' The phenomenon is described by Ñ.Stîrmer in his work 'The Problem of Aurora Borealis' in the chapter entitled 'The Echo of Short Waves, Which Comes Back in Many Seconds After The Main Signal'. In 1928 the radio engineer Jorgen Hals from Bigder near Oslo informed Ñ.Stormer about an odd radio echo received 3 seconds after the cessation of the main signal; besides, an ordinary echo encircling the Earth within 1/7 of a second was received. In July Prof. Stormer spoke to Dr. Van-der-Paul in Andhoven and they decided to carry out experiments in autumn and send telegraphic signals in the form of undamped waves every 20 seconds three dashes one after the other. On 11 October 1928 between 15.30 and 16.00, Ñ.Stormer heard an echo 'beyond any doubt'; the signals lasted for 1,5- 2 seconds on undamped waves 31,4 meters long. Stormer and Hals recorded the intervals between the main signal and the mysterious echo: 1) 15, 9, 4, 8, 13, 8, 12, 10, 9, 5, 8, 7, 6 2) 12, 14, 14, 12, 8 3) 12, 5, 8 4) 12, 8, 5, 14, 14, 15, 12, 7, 5.5, 13, 8, 8, 8, 13, 9, 10, 7, 14, 6, 9, 5 5) 9 Atmospheric disturbances were insignificant at that time. The frequency of echoes was equal to that of the main signal. Ñ.Stormer explained the nature of echoes by reflection of radio waves from layers of particles ionised by the Sun. But! The Professor of the Stenford Electrotechnical University R.Bracewell suggested possibility of informational communication through space probes between more or less developed civilisations in space. From that point of view the information about decoding of Stormer series can be found in following journals: 'Smena' No.2 Moscow 1966 , 'Astronautics and Aeronautics' No.5 USA 1973, 'Technika Molodezi' No.4 1974 and No.5 1977 Moscow, etc. The author of this work offers the following decoding: let the numbers in the series be replaced for chemical symbols of elements with corresponding nuclear charges: 1) P F Be O Al O Mg Ne F B O N C 2) Mg Si Si Mg O 3) Mg B O 4) Mg O B Si Si P Mg N B B Al O O O Al F Ne N Si C F B 5) F It is easy to see that the second series is repeated at the beginning of the forth series with the only difference that in the forth series silicon is alloyed with boron and phosphorus, i.e. 'p-n transition' of a diode is created. The third series describes receipt of pure boron through action on boron anhydrite by magnesium: B2O3 + Mg ® B+... The author of the above hypothesis wrote his degree paper on silicon carbide light-emitting diode, that is why the ending of the forth series is the most simple- it is a modern light-emitting diode. Silicon carbide is alloyed with nitrogen and boron with 'some participation' of fluorine. Approximately the same way diamond is alloyed with participation of fluorine in laboratories of 'other civilisations', as can be seen at the ending of the first series. In the middle of the forth series corundum, the base of ruby, is also alloyed with boron, nitrogen and fluorine. In the fifth series simply fluorine is educed as a useful but very aggressive gas. Inert neon seems to divide optoelectronic devices. In conclusion, some repeated applications should be noticed: fluorine favours in a way either diffusion of boron or electronic processes in forbidden zones of diamond, silicon carbamide; for some reason magnesium contacts are used. In 1928 semi-conductor devices were not in use on Earth. Sincerely yours, 1978 year, Henadzi Filipenka http://home.ural.ru/~filip
Rating: Summary: Echoes,with delays recorded by stopwatch,accompanied.... Review: Project of decoding of 'The Stormer Effect' The phenomenon is described by Ñ.Stîrmer in his work 'The Problem of Aurora Borealis' in the chapter entitled 'The Echo of Short Waves, Which Comes Back in Many Seconds After The Main Signal'. In 1928 the radio engineer Jorgen Hals from Bigder near Oslo informed Ñ.Stormer about an odd radio echo received 3 seconds after the cessation of the main signal; besides, an ordinary echo encircling the Earth within 1/7 of a second was received. In July Prof. Stormer spoke to Dr. Van-der-Paul in Andhoven and they decided to carry out experiments in autumn and send telegraphic signals in the form of undamped waves every 20 seconds three dashes one after the other. On 11 October 1928 between 15.30 and 16.00, Ñ.Stormer heard an echo 'beyond any doubt'; the signals lasted for 1,5- 2 seconds on undamped waves 31,4 meters long. Stormer and Hals recorded the intervals between the main signal and the mysterious echo: 1) 15, 9, 4, 8, 13, 8, 12, 10, 9, 5, 8, 7, 6 2) 12, 14, 14, 12, 8 3) 12, 5, 8 4) 12, 8, 5, 14, 14, 15, 12, 7, 5.5, 13, 8, 8, 8, 13, 9, 10, 7, 14, 6, 9, 5 5) 9 Atmospheric disturbances were insignificant at that time. The frequency of echoes was equal to that of the main signal. Ñ.Stormer explained the nature of echoes by reflection of radio waves from layers of particles ionised by the Sun. But! The Professor of the Stenford Electrotechnical University R.Bracewell suggested possibility of informational communication through space probes between more or less developed civilisations in space. From that point of view the information about decoding of Stormer series can be found in following journals: 'Smena' No.2 Moscow 1966 , 'Astronautics and Aeronautics' No.5 USA 1973, 'Technika Molodezi' No.4 1974 and No.5 1977 Moscow, etc. The author of this work offers the following decoding: let the numbers in the series be replaced for chemical symbols of elements with corresponding nuclear charges: 1) P F Be O Al O Mg Ne F B O N C 2) Mg Si Si Mg O 3) Mg B O 4) Mg O B Si Si P Mg N B B Al O O O Al F Ne N Si C F B 5) F It is easy to see that the second series is repeated at the beginning of the forth series with the only difference that in the forth series silicon is alloyed with boron and phosphorus, i.e. 'p-n transition' of a diode is created. The third series describes receipt of pure boron through action on boron anhydrite by magnesium: B2O3 + Mg ® B+... The author of the above hypothesis wrote his degree paper on silicon carbide light-emitting diode, that is why the ending of the forth series is the most simple- it is a modern light-emitting diode. Silicon carbide is alloyed with nitrogen and boron with 'some participation' of fluorine. Approximately the same way diamond is alloyed with participation of fluorine in laboratories of 'other civilisations', as can be seen at the ending of the first series. In the middle of the forth series corundum, the base of ruby, is also alloyed with boron, nitrogen and fluorine. In the fifth series simply fluorine is educed as a useful but very aggressive gas. Inert neon seems to divide optoelectronic devices. In conclusion, some repeated applications should be noticed: fluorine favours in a way either diffusion of boron or electronic processes in forbidden zones of diamond, silicon carbamide; for some reason magnesium contacts are used. In 1928 semi-conductor devices were not in use on Earth. Sincerely yours, 1978 year, Henadzi Filipenka http://home.ural.ru/~filip
Rating: Summary: sadly true Review: This book seems like the final nail in the Roswell coffin. I too wanted to believe, but let's face it, the Roswell 'crash' is the biggest red herring in UFOland. Where was the spaceship in all of this? Where were the huge indentations that would've resulted in a crash? There were none. Where are the artefacts, bits of UFO gleaned by 'witnesses'? There are none. How a few sticks and bits of wood spread around a ranch in New Mexico got to be this huge industry is cause for concern. Basically it helps make potentially real incidents ridiculed, and I for one as a sceptical believer, would like people to get some perspective and understand that most UFO sightings / abduction claims are rubbish made by pitiful attention seekers or the mentally deluded. Far too many conmen are making far too much money out of this subject and this book seems to take a sensible approach, and for that it must be admired.
Too bad the UFO believers writing reviews here are all foaming at the mouth claiming government conspiracy - it would seem some people see conspiracies everywhere. Too much X Files, not enough facing many facts.
Nearly 60 years later and we're still waiting for conclusive evidence that UFOs are extraterrestrial, and yet not one shred of real evidence exists. Strange that, no?
Rating: Summary: "You Can't Handle the Truth!" Review: Yeesh, some of these other reviews make me ill. "Government propagandist"? "Disinformation agent"? Some reviewers have been watching too many old episodes of the X-FILES. Korff is not an expert at elegant prose. Yes, his writing style can be irritating. Yes, it takes some of the shine off of this book. But were it really counts--the CONTENT--Korff is spot-on in his analysis and investivation of the Roswell events and the legend that has arisen around them. I'd been a Roswell entusiest for years when I discovered Korff's book. Coming on the heels of the debunking of the infamous "Roswell autopsy," Korff's book was a huge discovery for me. Critical thinking abounds, as does actual *evidence* ... something other Roswell books always tend to lack. There seems to be an organized campaign amongst Roswell believers to discredit Korff. It's a silly, ridiculous attempt to cling to their beliefs. Read this book yourself, then YOU decide which side has more evidence, more arguments, more *meat*.
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